1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to World Wide Web browsers and more particularly, to a method and apparatus for bandwidth characterization and reporting in Web browsers.
2. Description of the Related Art
The Internet is a network of computers and computer networks located both domestically and throughout the world. Generally, the World Wide Web ("the Web") is a collection of files available across the Internet that conform to standards designed to facilitate display, location and retrieval of information ("content") available on the Internet, typically though not necessarily, through a graphical user interface (GUI). Computer programs that read and display information stored in files in recognized formats are referred to as Web browsers. Web browsers are manufactured by a number of companies including Netscape Communications Corp. and Microsoft Corp. Although the term "server" has more than one meaning in the World Wide Web context, a "server" is a computer connected to the Internet on which Web formatted content may be stored.
There are a large number of Web standards for information storage and retrieval. Of these, Hypertext Markup Language ("HTML") is currently the most widely adopted format. Using a Web browser a user is able to retrieve and display information stored in HTML format. Such information may be stored on virtually any computer or computer network connected to the Internet and the information itself may be varied in form, i.e., text, a picture, sound, video, etc. Files or documents stored in a Web format are often referred to as "Web pages" because each file or document typically appears as a separate screen or page when viewed by a Web browser.
Within any given Web page the format of information a user can access through a Web browser is varied. For example, through a Web page a user can view text files, image (graphics) files, and moving image files and hear audio files. Some of these media resource files are specialized and require the Web browser to utilize additional programs or applications to download and display or play these files. These additional programs or applications are referred to as plug-ins or content handlers. For example, Adobe Acrobat can be used to view postscript (.pdf) files, Real Audio can be used to play audio (.ra) files, QuickTime can be used to play moving image (.qt) files, and FlashPix viewers can be used to view image (.fpx) files.
Various factors affect the bandwidth at which a specialized media resource file can be downloaded to the user's computer. First, the user can be connected to the internet in an ever increasing number of ways. Some examples of ways in which a user may connect to the internet include a telephone modem, a cable modem, an ISDN line, and a T1 line. These methods of connection can all transfer data at different bytes per second or bandwidths, thus varying greatly the speed at which a user can download information from the internet. With the advent of increasingly faster connections to the internet, the variance in bandwidth will be greater.
Moreover, such additional factors as the number of users accessing a particular server, changes in the routing of requests, caching, etc. affect the bandwidth at which a user can download information from the internet. These additional factors could be different every time a user attempts to download information. As a result, the same user can experience different bandwidths at different times while accessing data on the internet.
Further, Web browsers currently do not have the capability to determine the bandwidth available and report this information to content handlers. The present invention is directed to overcoming, or at least reducing the effects of, one or more of the problems set forth above.